A record number of travelers are expected to take to the skies next year, seeking out destinations made popular on TV as well as outlying settings where relaxation is the goal.
Passenger numbers are expected to reach 5.2 billion in 2025, up 6.7% from this year and exceeding the 5 billion mark for the first time, according to a forecast out this week from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
The wanderlust is real — 4 in 10 travelers surveyed by the group said they expect to travel more next year than in 2024, and roughly half said they expect to spend more money to do so.
The National Tour Association members project a similar uptick with two-thirds expecting the number of visitors to their locales to increase next year over 2024.
Pull out those passports. According to Kayak data, two-thirds of all flight searches for 2025 travel are for international flights. And Americans are flying further.
“Asia is the No. 1 trending region,” Kayla Inserra DeLoache, consumer travel trends expert at Kayak, told Yahoo Finance.
Footloose folks are eyeing countries inspired by a movie or TV show they’ve feasted on, per a report by Expedia Group. Or they are spinning a trip around attending a concert by their favorite musician or band. Others want to pay ahead and turn it off with an all-inclusive package. Or they are aiming to turn off and tune out to work puzzles and cook delicious meals with friends and family in a rental home by the sea or in the mountains.
Whatever your guiding star, chances are you will likely find lower prices and more deals in 2025. International airfare is down 4% for next year, compared to 2024, per Kayak data. Travel to the Caribbean is the cheapest in three years, with airfare down 17% compared to 2024, with some of the best deals to destinations like Dominica and Barbados.
Flights to Asia are down 7% compared to 2024, DeLoache said. And travelers are exploring beyond big cities.
“While Tokyo remains a popular destination, the spotlight is shifting toward hidden gems like Sapporo and Osaka, which offer a respite from the crowds and chaos of mainstream tourism,” DeLoache said.
Hotel rates are expected to be on par with this year’s rates — whether you’re in the US or overseas.
As for road trips, the forecast for gasoline prices is optimistic, calling for an average of $3.20 a gallon next year, well below the monster $5 plus a gallon back in the summer of 2022, and down slightly from 2024. Rental cars, however, will see price hikes over this year both in the US and internationally, per Kayak.
Almost two-thirds of travelers will be taking detours in 2025.
“These will not be completely off-the-beaten paths, undiscovered spots, but side trips from tried and true destinations,” Melanie Fish, Expedia Group’s travel expert, told Yahoo Finance.
For example, they will go to Reims, France, as a detour from Paris; Brescia, Italy, as a detour from Milan; or Fukuoka, Japan, as a detour from Tokyo.
“Reims is a side trip you can add on to Paris for a different experience, fewer crowds,” Fish said. “I tell people to look at a map and say ‘I’m going to destination A, maybe I can add on destination B.’”
This trend has been gaining traction for tour group travelers too.
“We often design our itineraries to use an iconic destination like Santorini, for example, as a draw, but then people on the programs are so happy to go to the lesser-known islands,” Maeve Hartney, chief programs officer at Road Scholar, told Yahoo Finance. “We include the thing that draws them in, but then we show them what they actually want to see but didn’t know existed.”
For Betty Sheets, the out-of-the-way destination is the draw. “I have two exciting Road Scholar trips planned for 2025 — the Silk Roads and Mongolia,” the Stamford, Conn., resident told Yahoo Finance. “I’m looking forward to getting deeper into Islamic culture and off the beaten road.”
Another sweet spot for vacationers next year will be those all-inclusive getaways. These are not the bottomless margaritas at the swim-up bar or all-you-can-eat buffet rumbas of yesteryear, mind you.
“All-inclusives for many, many years had a reputation of being one-size fits all,” Fish said. “But that mold has been broken. Now we’re seeing ski all-inclusives like the Alpinresort ValSaa — Sport & Spa in Saalbach, Austria, adults-only all-inclusives, family-friendly all-inclusives, fine-dining all-inclusives, wellness all-inclusive with sound baths included.”
What’s driving the demand? “I don’t know if these are seen as a really reasonable value and an easy way to vacation, or if it’s the simplicity and less stress being the big part of the appeal,” Fish said.
“It’s more than likely a result of life overstimulation. There are so many things competing for our attention from our jobs to our social lives, to our families, to social media that it’s really nice to be able to hit click and have an entire vacation booked and paid for,” she said.
In other words, “A fly and flop.”
JOMO travel, or joy of missing out, where families and groups of friends are renting vacation homes to do not a whole lot is on the rise. Roughly 6 in 10 travelers told Expedia they were looking for trips where they’re doing less.
“They’re experiencing the joy of missing out on schedules, missing out on buying tickets, missing out on dinner reservations, missing out on crowded attractions,” Fish said. “They’re renting whole vacation homes to do puzzles, to cook together, to read books, to just be together.”
Bookings for smaller travel groups such as Road Scholar’s Microgroup Programs, which comprise a maximum of 12 participants, have soared for next year, Hartney told Yahoo Finance.
Finally, two-thirds of travelers say movies, streaming services, and TV shows have influenced their travel choices, up 16% from last year, according to Expedia research.
“A new season of White Lotus is being filmed in Thailand,” Fish said, “and that started piquing people’s interest in Thailand, and the show isn’t even out yet.”
The children’s beloved bear Paddington has a new movie coming out this year and will be going to Peru, so expect interest in Peru to rise, she said. And the new season of Yellowstone has already spiked interest in VRBO vacation home rentals in Montana and Wyoming for 2025.
Taylor Swift’s Eras tour opened people’s eyes to tour tourism — and that will continue to be a driver for travel destinations in 2025.
“People now realize that they can affordably combine typically cheaper concert tickets in other countries with a trip,” Fish said. “ I don’t expect we’re going to see tour tourism at the level of the Eras tour next year, but there will be must-see concerts like the Oasis reunion that fans will probably hit the road to experience.”
For all you nature lovers, your kind of travel is in vogue. Spots on the radar include synchronous firefly season in the Great Smoky Mountains near Gatlinburg, Tenn., in May and June; the Penguin parade on Phillip Island near Melbourne, Australia, or the Northern Lights in the Lapland region of Finland that runs from August through April.
“We are going on safari in Tanzania in January 2025,” Anne Fantacone, who lives in Melbourne, Fla., told Yahoo Finance. “This is a lifelong dream for my husband, Antonio, and me to see the animal migration.”
Mt. Fuji, here they come. Travel to Asia is the cheapest in three years, per Kayak research. (Getty Creative) ·Kannika via Getty Images
If you know where you’d like to travel to and from, set an airfare price tracker. You’ll get an email or text alerting you whenever fares rise or fall. Major travel apps, such as Hopper, Kayak, and Skyscanner, offer fare tracking, as does Google Flights. You might run a search on Kayak’s “best time to travel” tool.
Don’t book too early. If you’re more than six months out from your trip, prices tend to be higher.
In general, traveling midweek — Tuesday or Wednesday — can help you save on domestic airfare. And take the first flight of the day because disruptions are a reality. As an aside, this year the cheapest month to hit the road was February, according to the Kayak researchers.
Frequent flier miles, loyalty hotel rewards, and credit card points can make a huge difference when it comes to affordable or cushier travel. Business class, anyone?
A credit card that does not charge foreign transaction fees is key if you’re leaving the US. Always ask for your purchases to be charged in the local currency for the best exchange rate.
My best advice: Give yourself permission to dream of faraway places, do your research, use those points, and pluck your passport out of the drawer for 2025.
